The Arab Spring, In Diaspora

For many young Arabs, the goal has long been to get out of their home countries and find better opportunities in the west. Now those lucky ones who found work or higher education abroad are watching the shakeup in their homelands, and they want to be part of the change.

In early October, as more than 400 young Arabs from different parts of the world steadily filed into a convention center in the heart of downtown Montreal, Canada, a tall, slim young man wearing jeans, a blazer, a blue shirt, and a big smile darted through the sea of excited chatter, all the while hidden behind his camera lens. Largely unnoticed by the enthusiastic throng of young Arabs, most clad in suits and many of the young women wearing hijab, he documented their arrival to an event that was a product of his creative musings.